A Surprise Meeting
by NoelleWynters
Summary: Mr. Gold has waited long enough for a certain Will Scarlet to pay his rent, and it was time to start repossessing his belongings as recompense. What he didn't expect was to find two people inside the apartment, clearly fascinated with everything they saw. And that was disregarding the rabbit in a jacket and trousers.


_Standard disclaimer applies: I own nothing, this is all for fun._

_This has some spoilers for the last episode of OUATIW (Heart of the Matter), although nothing major. A friend commented last night it would have been funny if Rumpel had walked in to start repossessing things as the Knave would more than likely be late on his rent, so this happened._

He'd been more than lenient waiting on the rent. People in Storybrooke had many ways to describe Rumplestiltskin and patient was rarely at the top of that list. Maybe it was somewhere, but it most certainly did not crack the top fifty.

He smirked as he walked up the stairs to the apartment in question, the fact there likely were fifty different words alone to label him with was an achievement of sorts. Not that it was here nor there at the moment, he'd given Will Scarlet more than enough leeway on the rent and now it was time to start repossessing things as collateral.

If the man in question wanted his stuff back, he could come and pay for it. There was the chance he would attempt to steal it, but Rumpel had seen to that issue. During the curse Will had quite the talent for stealing from everyone, it always struck him that even though everyone was different from their original selves, Will still had the innate desire to steal. But with magic back, he could safe guard everything.

If the Knave of Hearts wanted his things back, he'd have to do it the right way: pay like everyone else.

Rumpel shoved the key in the lock, surprised it was open. "Well, if you're home we're going to have a long, long chat on responsibility and paying your way in the world my boy," he muttered as he pushed the door open.

He was rather surprised to be met with a young man and woman he'd never seen before in his life. And he'd lived a very, very long time. The girl was currently quite taken with the ice machine, marveling at the magic of it. Her clothes were a little outlandish for Storybrooke, there was no doubt about that, but he rather liked her curious nature. He could feel it coming off her in waves, and the way her blue eyes lit up just at the way little cubes of ice popped out of the machine was rather sweet.

Not that he was able to focus on that for long, with the way the lights were flipping on and off. He turned his attention to the other person in the room, once he disregarded the White Rabbit. The young man was standing by the wall, flicking the light switch on and off, watching how the lights responded in kind with his dark eyes. Rumpel could read amazement there as well, and he could even feel a touch of magical energy coming off him. It was faint, an after effect of once being magical. That in itself was strange, but he was more concerned with the fact the lights were never staying on.

"Would you stop that?" he snapped, startling them both.

Alice and Cyrus both turned, shocked to see someone else in the apartment. They'd been so absorbed in everything around them, or at least the new discoveries they'd each made, that they hadn't heard him come in. "I'm sorry," Cyrus apologized, flicking the lights back on and moving away from the switch so he wouldn't be tempted to touch it again.

Alice walked over beside him, looking at the man curiously. He seemed to be of no consequence, as she was accustom to measuring people up upon meeting them after her time in Wonderland, but she knew looks could be deceiving. And her slight knowledge of Storybrooke told her not to take anyone in the town at face value.

They both watched as he moved further into the apartment and began picking up random items, dropping them in a box. "So dearies, I've not seen you before around town. Do you have names?"

"My name is Alice, and this is Cyrus," Alice responded, then nodding towards the White Rabbit and explaining who he was.

Rumpel didn't exactly need to know who the Rabbit was, he'd heard tales about the realm hoping creature before from Jefferson. He smirked slightly, so this was Alice from Wonderland, he was sure the Hatter would love to know his old friend had found her way to Storybrooke, along with a young man whom he couldn't place from any stories in this world. He didn't belong in that fanciful book about Wonderland, but the strange lingering magic coming from him did give Rumpel a bit of an idea that he might have some ties to a book of tales told over a thousand and one nights.

With a bit of a grunt he dropped more small items into the box, marveling at the fact the man was a thief and yet he rarely seemed to steal anything of any worth. Thief seemed the wrong word, maybe kleptomaniac as he just seemed to grab anything. He was going to have to take the entire contents of the apartment to make up for the back rent due at this rate. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Alice and Cyrus. I do hope you're not friends of Will Scarlet."

Cyrus was the first to speak in answer to that observation. "Well, she is more so than I." An answer which earned him a glare from Alice, much to Rumpel's amusement. "Well, you are. I only met him recently and I must admit, he does whine a lot."

"Like you were overly pleased with that predicament when you landed in it I'm sure," Alice chided, as Cyrus rolled his eyes and stepped away.

"It's a bottle Alice, I'm not sure what he expected from it. He should just be glad thus far he hasn't be trapped in it for years unending," Cyrus returned, answering Rumpel's unspoken question.

So, he was a genie. Or was. That seemed odd to Rumpel, he'd never heard of anything good coming from freeing a genie, yet he could remember a tale of three brothers being cursed and a spell to break the laws of magic using them. Or at least that was what he had been told once, many years ago.

One could never believe everything they heard, and obviously the laws of magic hadn't been broken, even if this one was walking around free. He'd know if they were, there was always some form of rippling effect if anything were to happen, it is more powerful in the realm it occurs but he would feel it regardless.

He took another quick scan of the room, realizing there was absolutely nothing of value, much to his displeasure. His plan to take a few high ticket items had failed, and he wasn't impressed with that. There was the television and appliances, but it made more sense to leave those for a new tenant.

And that was when he had a stroke of genius, or he thought it was at any rate. "I would choose my friends a little more wisely than Will Scarlet, he's got a bit of a reputation in this town for being trouble. He's stolen from me more than enough times, and has missed payment on his rent so many times I've honestly lost count. I've also forgotten most of his excuses as well, if he'd held down a steady job it would have helped, but he has always been a bit of the sort that felt the world owed him a living. No idea what got him to be like that, but he needs to grow out of it."

Cyrus gave Alice a sideways glance, almost as if to say 'I told you so', and Rumpel bit back a laugh. Evidently the young man was a very perceptive person, although with what he'd once been it would be an asset. Normally Rumpel didn't care for people, and never formed any opinion of anyone upon first meeting, but he liked these two. He'd always heard freeing a genie came at a cost, and he hoped there wouldn't be one. There was also a bit of weariness about them, as if they'd been fighting a long battle, and it was hardly half done yet.

Oh yes, he rather liked them and wouldn't mind seeing them around town. It would be a wonderful change from the saccharine drama that came with Snow and Charming. He was fairly certain the dentist in Storybrooke was making a killing on filling the cavities those two caused alone.

Rumpel reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card as he walked towards the young couple standing by a wall in the kitchen. "My name is Mr. Gold," he said in way of introduction, handing his card over to Alice who looked it over. "I own the pawn shop in town, but I also own many of the rental properties as well and this is one of them. As Will Scarlet has obviously decided paying rent simply is not for him, and this isn't a recent development I'm afraid, I am forced to find new tenants. If you're interested in settling down in Storybrooke, I'd be more than happy to rent it out to you, as well as assist you in settling into our lovely town as well."

Alice glanced at Cyrus, a bit of a smile gracing her face. Cyrus looked to Rumpel and asked why he would extend any help to people he'd just met. "I'm a good judge of character, you could say, something like yourself. I don't often take to people, but you two I rather like and wouldn't mind seeing around Storybrooke.

"As I can tell you both have something pressing to see to, I'll happily hold this apartment for awhile for you, if you should return. It isn't in a condition to be rented anyway, needs airing out and his collection of beer bottles should be removed," Rumpel observed. "Not to mention filling in the holes on the wall where he decided to make a dart board out of a sketch of some young lady."

They both turned, following his line of vision and smiled. They recognized the woman, and they had a feeling that was where they'd find what they came looking for.

Alice turned back to Rumplestiltskin, smiling brightly. "Thank you, Mr. Gold, it is very generous of you to make such an offer towards us. We will certainly keep it in mind once we're done with the task we have at hand."

"Glad to hear it dearie, and I wish you all the luck with it. Both of you. I look forward to seeing you again," he said, walking forward to shake their hands.

Cyrus watched him walking out, realizing he'd forgotten something. "You forgot the box of items you collected up."

Rumpel turned around, grinning. "That junk? I couldn't even sell it in the penny section of my shop, let alone give it away. If you take the place you can send it to the trash if you like. For a thief, he certainly wasn't picky about what he took, that's for certain."


End file.
